The Labour Ministry likely will begin registering illegal Vietnamese workers in March, giving them legal status much as the government did with labourers from three Asean neighbours last year.
The Labour Ministry plans to expand registration of illegal alien workers to cover Vietnamese in March. (Photo by Kosol Nakachol)
Labour Minister Surasak Kanjanarat said on Friday that he would seek cabinet approval for the registration project before the end of this month. If approved in February, the registration could start in March.
Mimicking the project run last summer for illegal workers from Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos, the Vietnamese-registration program will allow currently illegal Vietnamese labourers to obtain work permits for jobs involving manual labour and domestic work for one year, Gen Surasak said.
Afterward, employment of alien workers would be subject to conditions set by a memorandum of understanding between Bangkok and Hanoi, he added.
Alien workers would be allowed to do only unskilled work so that they do not compete with Thais, the general said. He expected discussion on details of the MoU with Vietnam to begin this month.
Nakorn Sila-Archa, permanent secretary for labour, said authorities would this month check alien-labour registrations in Bangkok, Pathum Thani, Nonthaburi, Samut Prakan and Ayutthaya.
The survey would focus on labour-intensive enterprises as well as massage parlours, karaoke bars and restaurants where there could be hidden sex operations, he said.
Last year's illegal registration of Myanmar, Cambodian and Lao workers from late June to October saw 1.53 million workers and some 92,000 dependants.